Oops, They Did It Again: EBRPD Hall of Shame, Mission Peak Edition

10/06/2008 20:28

Here's the remote, little-known, and little used Panorama Trail -- one of the EBRPD's few actual singletrack trails -- as of earlier this year. Since so few people come here, the trail needed some brushing back:

Instead, the EBRPD decided to "maintain" the trail with a bulldozer. Remember, the EBRPD claims that letting people ride bicycles on an existing trail requires an environmental review and a majority vote of the Board of Directors -- whereas this is perfectly normal trailwork:

But wait! It turns out they surveyed their property line wrong, and instead of following the path of the old trail, they dozed a new trail right onto private property!

What to do now? Follow the old trail as it switchbacks down the hill? No, that's too hard: we'll just bulldoze a path straight down the hill.Just imagine the ugly, eroded mess once the rains start.

(Bonus question: The left side of this fence is a "Regional Preserve", purchased and maintained by the EBRPD with our tax dollars at great expense. The right side is a privately-run cattle ranch. Can you spot the difference?)

This sort of incompetence would be laughable if we weren't paying for it, and if the EBRPD wasn't asking for another $500 million to continue ruining our public parks and open space.

Help us stop the destruction...

Vote No on Measure WW!

But Wait...There's More!

Since most of Mission Peak is an overgrazed wasteland, 98% of hikers simply walk straight up the hot, exposed "Ohlone Wilderness Trail" (actually a 12-foot wide road) to the peak. Venture elsewhere, however, and you'll find that it can get much, much worse.

Mmmm...stagnant watering troughs.

Mission Peak is a "Regional Preserve". What is the EBRPD preserving here?

Yes, hillsides are supposed to have plants on them. This is what happens when a parks district prioritizes cows over people.

This doesn't deserve our tax money. Instead, let's support our state and local parks districts that actually care for the public land we've entrusted them to preserve.

Vote No On Measure WW!

Encore: "Use Trails"

This "shortcut" was created by hikers, who don't want to follow the official road to the left and then back up the ridge.

Remember, according to the EBRPD, allowing people to ride bicycles on existing trails would have too much environmental impact -- and if cyclists dare create their own trails because they're banned from existing ones, they're horrible environmental vandals and can be fined or jailed.

But what does the EBRPD do when hikers make their own 30-foot wide, rocky, eroded fall-line scar because they simply don't want to walk a few hundred feet around to the side?